A colourful summer marine phytoplankton bloom fills much of the Baltic Sea in this Envisat image.
Phytoplankton are microscopic marine plants that drift on or near the surface of the sea, by far the most abundant type of life found in the ocean. Just like plants on land they employ green-pigmented chlorophyll for photosynthesis – the process of turning sunlight into chemical energy.
While individually microscopic, phytoplankton chlorophyll collectively tints the surrou
The latest close flyby of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft confirms that the moon has a significant, extended and dynamic atmosphere. The flyby, which took place on 14th July 2005, was Cassini’s lowest altitude flyby of any object to date, a mere 173 kilometres (108 miles) above the surface of Enceladus.
The 500 km diameter moon Enceladus is a very bright icy moon at a distance of 4 Saturn radii away from Saturn. It has long been associated with the formation of
Some 25% of genes code for membrane proteins. Yet membrane organization remains a mystery. Membranes envelop all the cells in our bodies, forming a natural barrier, the membrane proteins within these can also recognize certain cells and direct a drug to them.
Using atomic force microscopy, Simon Scheuring (Inserm), in a CNRS unit at the Institut Curie, and James N. Sturgis, professor at the Université de la Méditerranée (CNRS unit), have studied the organization of a bacteria
Studies shed light on role of melanin in preventing macular degeneration
Two studies from an unusual research partnership at the University of Chicago appear to have resolved a long-standing dispute about the role of melanin in the eye. The studies, one published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and one early online in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), also suggest a new way to prevent a common cause of blindness.
Chemist
Earth’s cool, rigid upper layer, known as the lithosphere, rides on top of its warmer, more pliable neighbor, the asthenosphere, as a series of massive plates. Plates continuously shift and break, triggering earthquakes, sparking volcanic eruptions, sculpting mountains and carving trenches under the sea.
But what, exactly, divides the lithosphere and the asthenosphere? In the latest issue of Nature, a trio of geophysicists from Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of
Simple blood test may give diagnostic and prognostic information
Scientists from the Uppsala Branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR) have made a promising discovery that could improve the early diagnosis of breast and ovarian cancers through a simple blood test.
The LICR team, working in collaboration with a group at the Lviv Regional Oncology Center in Ukraine, discovered three proteins present in the blood of women with breast and ovarian cancer, but n
Results from KamLAND, an underground neutrino detector in central Japan, show that anti-electron neutrinos emanating from the earth, so-called geoneutrinos, can be used as a unique window into the interior of our planet, revealing information that is hidden from other probes.
“This is a significant scientific result,” said Stuart Freedman, a nuclear physicist with a joint appointment at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and the University of Californi
Researchers have isolated compounds from the vegetable broccoli that they believe may help prevent or slow the progress of bladder cancer.
The current work builds on a major study conducted six years ago by Harvard and Ohio State universities that found that men who ate two or more half-cup servings of broccoli per week had a 44 percent lower incidence of bladder cancer compared to men who ate less than one serving each week.
“We’re starting to look at which compou
Possible ’early warning system’ for heart problems
By using sound waves Mayo Clinic researchers have described subtle changes in the motion of the heart that are measurable by ultrasound and may improve understanding of heart function, and possibly be a noninvasive aid in predicting impending heart damage including heart attacks. The study could also contribute to optimal adjustment of cardiac pacemakers or perhaps better design of artificial hearts. The findings, publish
Fiery chillies keep elephants out of crops and make a great sauce, African entrepreneurs say
What do hot sauce aficionados and African elephants have in common? They both feel the burn of chilli peppers, the key ingredient for resolving human-elephant conflicts in Africa while raising money for farmers and conservation.
Supported by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and other groups, the Elephant Pepper Development Trust (EPDT) has not only promoted the use of
Findings call for radical change in treatment for the disease, researchers say
Mayo Clinic researchers have found that the cause of chronic sinus infections lies in the nasal mucus — the snot — not in the nasal and sinus tissue targeted by standard treatment. The findings will be published in the August issue of Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and are available online at www.us.elsevierhealth.com/jaci .
Discovery sheds light on how a low-calorie diet extends lifespan
Mice, rats, worms, flies, and yeast all live longer on a low-calorie diet, which also seems to protect mammals against cancer and other aging-related diseases. A gene called SIR2 is thought to control this process. Now, researchers at Harvard Medical School and UC Davis have discovered four cousins of the SIR2 gene that also extend lifespan, suggesting that the whole family of SIR2 genes is involved in controlling life
Random fluctuations in gene expression can influence the fates of cells infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) far more than previously thought, according to new research from Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers at the University of California, Berkeley. By combining experimental and computational studies of HIV’s replication cycle, the researchers found evidence that the virus may become latent in some cells by harnessing the random molecular behavior of the cell.
Finding advances hope for potential new target for antidepressants
Researchers from Harvard Medical School have found a molecule that is unexpectedly involved in dopamine signaling, and in a manner that supports the potential of dopamine as an alternative target for treating depression. The results provide evidence that there is a molecular link between impaired dopamine signaling and depression, which affects 16 percent of the adult population in the United States. The research
Pore protein plays active role in toxins’ entry into cells
Scientists at Harvard Medical School (HMS) have revealed details of a key step in the entry of anthrax toxin into human cells. The work, which grew out of an ongoing effort to produce a better anthrax therapeutic, shows that the protective antigen component of the bacterial toxin plays an active role in transferring the other two components of the toxin through the cell membrane. The research, led by R. John Collier
In the courtship dance of a male South American bird, the Club-winged Manakin, Machaeropterus deliciosus, rubbing and vibrating specialized wing feathers together creates a courting melody to attract their mates, according to a report in Science.
Since Darwin proposed his theories of selection and evolution, it has been posed that sounds made by the feathers of some birds evolved by sexual selection. Richard O. Prum, the William Robertson Coe Professor of Ecology and Evolutiona
Feedback
